Material Focus is an independent non-profit on a mission to keep electricals – and their valuable materials – in use for longer.
We work with communities and the public to transform the UK’s approach to e-waste. And empower millions of people across the UK to fix, donate, sell and recycle their electricals through the Recycle Your Electricals campaign.
The UK Critical Minerals Strategy targets recovering 20% of critical minerals from recycling by 2035 – yet over 100,000 tonnes of electricals are binned every year, losing valuable materials forever. Securing lithium, copper and gold from unwanted electricals is no longer just an environmental necessity. It’s a matter of national resilience.
Over 880 million electrical items sit idle in UK homes – many still working perfectly. Over 70% of people want to fix and donate but it’s still too hard. Working devices could reach people who need them. And electricals that can’t be reused are full of hidden treasure like copper, lithium and gold that could be recycled to power our future.
Hidden batteries in household electricals spark thousands of fires every year when crushed inside bin lorries – putting collection crews, recycling plant workers and residents at risk, causing chaos and costing councils £250,000 to replace a single destroyed vehicle. Yet over 50% of people still don’t know they should recycle batteries separately to prevent this.
We work with organisations across the sector to generate insights, fund scalable pilots, and inspire nationwide public action through our award-winning Recycle Your Electricals campaign.
We provide evidence-based insights to inform policy decisions and help create a thriving circular electricals system.
We identify and fund pilots that make it easier to reuse and recycle; or that encourage circular design. Like the ones we’ve funded to
See our funding case studies
We inspire, educate and encourage the UK public to fix, donate, sell and recycle their unwanted electricals through our Recycle Your Electricals campaign.
Get involvedWe are funded through the UK’s Extended Producer Responsibility regulations. Under WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) Extended Producer Responsibility regulations, electrical producers have legal obligations for the environmental impact of their products throughout their lifecycle. This includes financing the collection, treatment, and recycling of electrical waste to recover the precious materials inside them.
We’ve been busy making it easier for millions more people to understand what, how, why to recycle their electricals. And find more local places to fix, donate and recycle them.
Our Board is made up of four producer trade associations within the Joint Trade Associations (JTA), namely the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances (AMDEA), BEAMA, the Lighting Industry Association (LIA) and techUK, whose members have significant household WEEE obligations.
We draw on the expertise of an independent advisory panel when making major funding decisions. The panel is made up of representatives from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities Forum (AATF Forum), Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling (ICER), Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO), WEEE Schemes Forum (WSF), Reuse Network, Joint Trade Associations (JTA) and Environmental Services Association (ESA).
Come and be part of the team.
